Muscat: Twelve per cent of the road accidents in the Sultanate turn out to be fatal, an average of one death in every 10 road accidents, according to the recent statistics released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).

The annual statistics covered the period till the end of November 2013. During this period, 6,600 road accidents were recorded resulting in 823 fatalities and 9,081 injuries, compared to 7,529 accidents which resulted in 1,059 fatalities and 10,737 injuries during the period from January to November 2012.

When compared to the 2012 figures, road accidents in Oman recorded an annual decrease of 12.3 per cent, while the death toll from accidents also recorded a decrease of 22.3 per cent.

Statistics also reveal that most of the dead were men, with 702 deaths (85.3 per cent), compared to 121 women (14.7 per cent).

The NCSI statistics also revealed that new vehicle registrations until the end of November 2013 witnessed a decline of 6.5 per cent. A total of 119,526 new vehicles were registered compared to 127,784 vehicles registered during the same period in 2012.

DeclineThe statistics state several factors for the decline, including the decrease in government's purchase of vehicles by 38.1 per cent. Only 2,095 government vehicles were being registered compared with 3,387 vehicles registered during the same period in 2012.

In addition, rental cars, taxis and private vehicle registrations also declined, with 13.6 per cent for rental cars, 13.5 per cent for taxis and 9.1 per cent for private cars.

Meanwhile, commercial vehicles, motorcycles, tractors, and driving school cars witnessed a growth in sales with motorcycles topping the list, recording a growth of 38.2 per cent.

New commercial vehicle registrations recorded a growth of 11.8 per cent.